Hand Hygiene: The Simplest and Most Effective Form of Infection Prevention and Control
- Sterile Solutions Infection Control
- Mar 16
- 3 min read
Did You Wash Your Hands?
This is the question most toddlers are asked after using the bathroom. While it is sometimes meant to shame, washing your hands is incredibly important. From preventing poop particles from getting into your McDonald's fries, to hospital acquired infections that could lead to longer stays, and in some unfortunate cases, death.
Hand hygiene, the practice of keeping hands clean, is vital not just for the general public, but also for healthcare workers, patients, visitors, and volunteers in healthcare settings.
Hand Hygiene: Where Did it Come From?
Picture this: It’s 1846, and you’re a doctor by the name of Ignaz Semmelweis at the Vienna General Hospital in Austria. You’re sitting at your table about to eat breakfast. But as you glance at your hands, you notice they are quite dirty. You think, “Maybe I should wash my hands before I eat.” But then you dismiss the thought: “I’m a doctor, dirty hands are not a problem for me.”
Later, as you visit the maternity wards, you learn that two mothers and three babies died from infections overnight. Troubled, you speak to a nurse about how the unit across from yours, run by midwives, has fared. They tell you that no mothers or babies died last night. In fact, their death rate for the past year is three times lower than yours. You begin to wonder: Is it the care, the medicine, or something else?
You investigate the differences between the two units. You find that the midwives don’t leave their unit, while you, as a doctor, are performing autopsies before heading to the maternity ward. Could those “particles” from the autopsy be transferred to the mothers, leading to infections? You begin to suspect that your own dirty hands might be the cause of these deaths.
Taking action, you introduce a policy requiring all doctors to wash their hands with chlorinated lime solution before delivering babies. While some doctors resist, the results speak for themselves. Over time, the death rates on your ward decrease to match those on the midwife unit. However, despite your breakthrough, the importance of hand hygiene remained largely ignored until the late 20th century.
Hand Hygiene Today
Fast forward to today, and hand hygiene is recognized worldwide as one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of infections. The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified five critical moments for hand hygiene to occur in healthcare settings:
Before touching a patient
Before performing a clean/aseptic procedure
After potential exposure to body fluids
After touching a patient
After touching patient surroundings
Regardless of the specific framework you follow, is that your hands should be cleaned both before and after a procedure and any interaction with a patient or their environment. This simple practice can prevent the spread of harmful germs and protect both patients and healthcare workers.
What to Use for Hand Hygiene
Both the WHO and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) recommend Alcohol-Based Hand Rub (ABHR) as the preferred method for hand hygiene. ABHR is favored over soap and water because it’s faster, easier to use, and more accessible. It’s also effective against a wide range of germs. However, there are certain circumstances where soap and water are better options, including when your hands are visibly dirty, before eating, after using the bathroom, or when someone is experiencing vomiting and/or diarrhea.
Taking Matters into Your Own Hands
As a patient or visitor in a healthcare setting, it’s essential to practice good hand hygiene, but it’s equally important to ensure that healthcare workers are doing the same. If you ever feel that a healthcare worker hasn’t cleaned their hands, don’t hesitate to speak up. Asking them to wash their hands is an easy way to help protect yourself and others from harmful germs.
The Takeaway
Today, hand hygiene is a fundamental practice in healthcare and everyday life. Whether you're a doctor performing surgery or simply grabbing a meal at a restaurant, washing your hands can prevent infections and save lives. Don’t underestimate the power of clean hands!
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